COEUR d’ALENE - The Iron Horse Bar and Grill, on Thursday, June 2, will mark its 50th anniversary.
A celebration to end all celebrations is surely in store, right?
Owner Tom Robb isn’t so sure.
“I've got two or three things in the back of my mind, but I'll be honest with you right now, I don't know. I don't know what we're gonna do,” he says. “I've got some ideas. But one minute, I like them. The other one, I think they're kind of juvenile. And so I’ll think about it, and I'll get an answer.”
But there is one thing the 81-year-old knows: He’ll be at the Iron Horse Thursday. It's where he belongs.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Robb says.
For five decades, this has been his home away from home. He’s been there to chat with customers, encourage employees, eat breakfast or lunch, and keep an eye on operations.
If there is a face of the Iron Horse, it belongs to this man.
On a Friday afternoon, Tom Robb sits in his iconic Sherman Avenue restaurant. It’s fairly busy. An older couple sits in a corner booth, a family in another. A threesome sits at a table near the front window. Four people walk in and are escorted to a table.
Robb, relaxed and friendly, wears a gray sweater. His white hair is swept back. You can sense the pride as he surveys the scene.
He likes people. It’s what has kept him going year after year after year.
“We meet so many unbelievable people in this business, and it's really rewarding,” he says. “My favorite things are the people. Over the years, we've had some knockdown dead employees or some that were just so loyal it was unbelievable. Those keep you going.”
He’s needed that dedication to get by during COVID-19 that made workers hard to come by.
Even for a place like the legendary Iron Horse, survival is not easy in this industry.
“It's been tough. A tough couple of years,” he says. “The biggest problem was getting qualified workers to apply. For that matter, anybody to apply. It’s a little better now than it was.”
Robb still comes to work every day, although he leaves the business decisions in the hands of sons, Aaron and Mike.
Aaron Robb has run the daily operations in Coeur d’Alene for about 25 years, while Mike has operated the Spokane site for nearly as long — with their dad’s guidance.
“I'm involved in the business,” Tom Robb says, “But Mike and Aaron make the decisions. If I don't like a decision, I'll say something about it. But I don't use any pressure or anything like that."
Pressure doesn't suit him. Robb is a straightforward man. He says what he thinks. And it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
“A lot has happened. Some good, some bad. Small businesses, it's always a challenge, but we've got no complaints. You know, plugging along. Our store in Spokane is doing very well. Our bar sales here are strong."
Robb is proud that the Iron Horse, 407 E. Sherman Ave., has endured 50 years. Those two words in green, "Iron Horse," look down on the dining room.
“I don't know how many restaurants have done that, at least under the same ownership and the same management,” he says. “That's rewarding, in a way. But we've got our scars from all those years."
Fifty years wasn’t something he considered when he opened the Iron Horse on June 2, 1972. Barbara Renner was a business partner until 1991.
Then, he never imagined it might be around come 2022 and he would be sitting there talking about an anniversary party.
“I thought, ‘I'll do this for three or four years and then go on to something else,’” he says.
He and wife Mary considered moving to San Diego, but changed their mind.
"I'm glad we didn’t,” he says.
Changes are coming to the Iron Horse, though Robb isn’t ready to say exactly what.
“We've gone down to the original brick walls, that's about 1910. And this floor is the same and we're waiting to have that finished,” he says. “We'll see how this room develops. I wouldn't say anything's chiseled in gold right now.”
But something will happen to give the Iron Horse a bit of a new look.
“I just can't tell you exactly what they are,” he says, smiling.
While Robb agrees the Iron Horse has been a downtown mainstay and influenced generations, he declines to take credit for its success. He gives that to his sons, his wife, his staff, his customers.
Anybody but himself.
“I'm not comfortable using myself as an example because I’m just one of the cogs,” he says. “But I think just strictly by being here 50 years sort of speaks for itself. Hardly a day goes by that people don't mention that, so that's rewarding.”
Tom Robb loves Coeur d’Alene. He says there are “many great people in this town. This must be the neatest little town in the United States. There's so many smart people. You know, I'm in awe of those people.”
Still, he admits he put a lot of hard work into the Iron Horse. A lot of heart and soul, blood, sweat and yes, tears, too.
“We survived two or three recessions. We survived 22% interest rates back in the '70s and things of that nature,” he says.
“At this point in time as I sit here today, financially, we're pretty good. But that's pretty fragile as you know,” Robb says.
He says, each night, when he goes to bed, he worries about things related to business.
"I don't mean I sit around and worry about it all the time. I've had so much experience now. But you know, it's not a part you like to be in," he says. "What's really tough is when you owe a lot of money, and you're in a recession. That's tough.
“If you can get to a point where you don't owe money, and that's what we're all working for, then it makes it a lot better.”
Robb has no plans to retire. Maybe later. But not now.
“I come to work every day. I told Mary some time back I wasn't gonna retire. I've always used the example, 'I'm gonna be like Doc Holiday. I'm gonna die with my boots on.'”
He does need to unwind. For that, he heads to the family cabin on the Coeur d’Alene River, which he calls a godsend.
“It's 50 miles from where you're sitting, might as well be 600 miles,” he says. “Because when you're up there, it pulls you into a different medium.”
But the pull of the Iron Horse, after 50 years, is stronger than ever. He can’t resist it. It beckons, and he returns.
You'll find him there in the mornings, and he generally goes home about noon.
Some days, though, he stays later. He watches. He listens. He smiles.
“This is where I like to be,” Robb says.
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